Land & Water Conservation

Resources for County Land Conservation Committees

County land conservation committees and their conservation departments are at the core of the statewide conservation delivery system established by Chapter 92, Wisconsin Statutes. DATCP provides education support to committee members and other conservation partners, including summaries of DATCP programs and specific training initiatives.

Program Summaries

Below are program summaries for six soil and water conservation programs operated within DATCP’s Land and Water Resources Bureau.

Conservation Engineering

Engineering assistance is available to your county. For a summary of the Conservation Engineering program, click here (1 page PDF). For additional information about conservation engineering, including a list of engineers available to provide technical assistance, please visit Conservation Engineering.

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

The CREP program provides Wisconsin landowners with the opportunity to enroll agricultural lands into various conservation practices. For a summary of the conservation reserve enhancement program, click here (2 page PDF). For more information about CREP, please visit Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

Farmland Preservation Program (FPP)

The Farmland Preservation Program provides state income tax credits to farmers who meet soil and water conservation standards. For a summary of the farmland preservation program, click here (42 page PDF). For more information about the Farmland Preservation Program, please visit Farmland Preservation Program and Conservation.

Land and Water Resource Management Plan Program

Counties are required to develop land and water resource management plans in order to receive state funding for soil and water conservation programs. For a summary of the land and water resource management plan program, please click here (1 page PDF). For more information about land and water resource management plans, please visit Land & Water Resource Management Plan.

Nutrient Management Planning

Nutrient management planning is an agricultural performance standard found in administrative rule NR 151. For a summary of nutrient management planning, click here (1 page PDF). For more information about nutrient management planning, please visit Nutrient Management Planning.

Soil and Water Resource Management Grants Program

Counties are allocated funding to pay for staff and to cost-share conservation practices from the Legislature through the soil and water resource management grants program. For a summary of the soil and water resource management grants program, click here (1 page PDF). For more information about the grants, please visit Soil & Water Resource Management.

Training Initiatives

Here are the most recent training materials for counties.

For more information

For more information about county land conservation committees, please visit Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association. For more information about county conservation departments, visit Wisconsin Association of Land Conservation Employees.